St. Thomas the Apostle Church

Dear Parishioners & Friends,

The official date of the transfer from one pastor to another arrives this weekend without much fanfare.  As of Saturday (31st of July), I am still the pastor, but as of Sunday (1 August)  I am only the “assisting priest.”  As of this Sunday Fr. Elias is now pastor.  God protect, save and bless him in this new undertaking.

For someone in religious life becoming pastor is a profound undertaking.  The oath that the pastor takes upon his installation (which will come at a later time down the road), the priest vows himself into a deep relationship with the people of the parish.   This commitment sometimes conflicts with the expectations of the community to which he belongs.  On a number of occasions I had to skip our regular community, Wednesday night get-togethers for parish matters.  The pastor starts seeing his obligations from a very different perspective than before he agreed to take the oath.

I was asked to step into this parish at a moment when things were in some bit of chaos. At the very same time I was in the act of closing up St. Gelasius Parish. It fell to me to dispose of everything from the school and from the rectory.  I tried to bring as much here to St. Thomas as I could. So, on my arrival, I had little time to think about having a “vision” for this parish.  In the long run I don’t think it mattered.  Pastors are not necessarily visionaries, but rather coordinators of the many visions that are already here.

At the end of my time here, I do not see myself as having worked any great changes beyond helping people come together by means of the various councils and committees that we have – and encouraging people to find their own voices and place within many possibilities that exist here.  Rather, I have tried to keep encouraging individual parishioners to step forward onto     our various committees.

It takes a long time to get to know who is in our parish, and I don’t profess to have really succeeded at that.  I meet everyone on the weekend as they come in and out of church, or come to one of our events – and I am always trying to assess what skills or talents a given person may or may not have.  And some of our very talented parishioners have jobs and responsibilities that make serving on a committee in any way that requires regular attendance to be difficult for them to do. 

We say about this parish: God’s People in Extraordinary Variety.  I think is also correct to say: God’s Extraordinarily Gifted People in All Shapes & Sizes!  If I am confident of one thing, it is that I never fully tapped into all the potential that exists here in this parish.  That’s why the parish needs to change pastors from time to time, so that another person can see what I missed, and bring even more extraordinary people forward into the operating mix that keeps the vitality of this parish moving forward.

I know that Fr. Elias will be bringing his own set of talents and skills to this task in the future.  It will take him some time just to find out where he is and who he has around him.  Some people who found me to be not quite their cup of tea may come back into view once I am gone.  Just as there will be people on the other side as well.  That’s a well-understood movement within every parish at the time of a change.  And it’s a good thing.  I would compare it to the circulatory system of the oceans.  There are the regular tides, and then there is the deeper turnover that happens on a much longer cycle.  When that happens, fresh new currents appear.

The work of the parish goes on.  The pastor may represent the face of the parish at one level, but the heart of the parish is found in a more diffused way in all the people that do things in their own unique way.  There are people who support the parish even when they are no longer able to come here.  There are people who visit the sick and the shut-ins; there are people who help out in school events, or in parish events.  There are all the religious communities of women and men who attend St. Thomas, who pray for and with us, and who even help support us financially. 
What continues to astonish me is the knowledge that some of our poorest parishioners are among the most generous givers – not in the amount of money that they give, but in the real-life percentage of their income that they dedicate to the church every week.  For one person six dollars doesn’t get them out of Starbuck’s – and for another person it is over 10% of their monthly income.  And yet that six dollars comes in every week, no matter what!

I can say with confidence that as I come to the end of my time here, I have witnessed “wonderful things” – to quote Howard Carter’s words upon looking into Tutankhamen’s tomb for the first time.  And my confidence tells me that Fr. Elias will find the same to be true for him at the end of his time here. 

It is now up to you to help Fr. Elias become the next pastor of this extraordinary parish.

Fr. Michael

Fr. Elias, O. Carm. is the new Pastor of St. Thomas effective August 1, 2010.